CDC: Smallpox found in NIH storage room is alive

By Jen Christensen, CNN

Updated 3:07 PM ET, Fri July 11, 2014

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They discovered the cure for ... – Before the term "vaccination" was coined, millions died every year from infectious diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis and yellow fever. But the birth of immunology brought with it cures for some of the world's most deadly diseases. Click through the gallery to see who is credited with developing these life-saving vaccines:

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Dr. Edward Jenner – Dr. Edward Jenner is known as the founder of immunology. He first attempted vaccination against smallpox in 1796 by taking cowpox lesions from a dairymaid's hands and inoculating an 8-year-old boy. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly announced that smallpox had been eradicated across the globe. Samples of the virus are still kept in government laboratories for research as some fear smallpox could one day be used as a bioterrorism agent.

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Louis Pasteur – You probably know Louis Pasteur as the man who invented pasteurization. But Pasteur also developed the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax. The French microbiologist grew rabies in rabbits first to weaken the virus. Then in 1885, he injected the vaccine into a 9-year-old boy who had been attacked by a dog; it was a success and Pasteur became famous.

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Gaston Ramon – Veterinarian Gaston Ramon used a formaldehyde solution to deactivate the toxic part of the diphtheria toxin, which allowed scientists to later inject inactive diphtheria into humans as a vaccine. Ramon's discovery helped lead researcher P. Descombey to develop a similar toxoid for tetanus in 1924; it was first used in soldiers during World War II.

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Jules Bordet – In 1900, Belgian physician Jules Bordet worked with Octave Gengou to isolate the microbe that causes bordetella pertussis, the pathogen that leads to whooping cough. The isolated bacterium was used to develop the pertussis vaccine. Bordet won the 1919 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in immunology.

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Camille Guerin and Albert Calmette – Camille Guerin, left, and Albert Calmette developed the Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine for tuberculosis disease. The vaccine was first used in humans in 1921, after 13 years of animal testing.

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Maurice Hilleman – The CDC recommends 14 vaccines for American children younger than 6. Of those 14, microbiologist Maurice Hilleman developed eight, including the MMR vaccination and the FDA-approved vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia. After his death in 2005, Merck pharmaceuticals dedicated The Maurice R. Hilleman Center for Vaccine Manufacturing in Durham, North Carolina, to its most successful researcher.

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Max Theiler – Although many scientists contributed to the development of the current vaccine for yellow fever, Max Theiler was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1950 for his work. The South African researcher first inoculated mice through their brains, and then took a serum from the protected mice to inject in humans.

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Dr. Jonas Salk – Dr. Jonas Salk was something of a scientific hero after developing the polio vaccine. Before it was widely used, more than 45,000 Americans contracted the virus each year. By 1962 -- less than 10 years after it was first tested -- the number of cases had dropped to 910, according to the Salk Institute. "Salk never patented the vaccine, nor did he earn any money from his discovery, preferring to see it distributed as widely as possible," his biography on Salk.edu says.

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Story highlights

At least two smallpox vials found at the NIH contain viable samples of the virus

NIH employees found six forgotten vials in an unused storage room

CDC still testing four vials; NIH is making sure there is no other missing inventory

At least two of the vials employees at the National Institutes of Health found in an unused storage room earlier this month contain viable samples of the deadly smallpox virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Employees found six forgotten vials when they were preparing to move a lab from the Food and Drug Administration's Bethesda, Maryland, campus to a different location. The laboratory had been used by the NIH but was transferred to the FDA in 1972.

When the scientists found the vials, they immediately put them in a containment lab and on July 1 notified the branch of the government that deals with toxic substances, called the Division of Select Agents and Toxins.

The CDC said previously there is no evidence that any of the vials was breached, nor were any of the lab workers exposed to the virus.

On Monday, law enforcement agencies transferred the vials to the CDC's high-containment facility in Atlanta. The CDC is one of only two official World Health Organization designated repositories for smallpox.

CDC Director Tom Frieden said his scientists worked through the night on the samples as soon as they got them. Testing confirmed that there was variola DNA in the vials.

Additional test results showed "evidence of growth" in samples from two of the vials, suggesting that the smallpox virus is alive.

The other four vials still need to be tested for evidence of growth, Frieden said Friday. After their investigation is complete, the CDC will destroy the vials and all the growth that came out of them. The World Health Organization will oversee that destruction.

Smallpox, known also by its scientific name as variola, was the deadly virus that was the scourge of civilization for centuries. It's been considered an eradicated disease since 1980, following successful worldwide vaccination programs. The last known outbreak in the U.S. was in 1947 in New York.

The vials were created February 10, 1954; that is before the smallpox eradication campaign began.

Frieden says that the NIH is currently scouring their buildings to make sure there are no other surprises left in unused storerooms. He says the problem in this case is not in the creation of the vials; the discovery points to a "problem in inventory control."